Free Line of Scrimmage by Marie Force Page B

rotten son of a bitch!” The curse sounded almost comical in Missy’s lilting accent. Susannah’s sister, who lived
     in Savannah, was the ultimate southern belle. “Did he really threaten to stop the divorce if you didn’t go with him?”
    “Yes.”
    “That’s outrageous! Have you talked to your lawyer?
    He can’t do this.”
    “He has all the power, Miss. He’s not the one who’s engaged to someone else.”
    “He’s only doing this because you’re engaged to Henry. His rampant ego can’t handle the idea of you with another man.”
    “I don’t know if it’s only that.” Susannah nibbled on the breakfast he had made for her as she talked to her sister. “He seems
     different somehow. I can’t really put my finger on what it is, but he’s changed.”
    “Oh, Susannah, please. Tell me you’re kidding me!
    Ryan Sanderson will never change. The universe revolves around him, and it always has. You can’t have forgotten what your life with him was like, especially
     the last few years.”
    “I haven’t,” she said with another deep sigh. “He said he’s retiring from football.”
    Melissa laughed long and hard. “And you’re buying that? What the hell happens to you when you’re around him? It’s like you’ve been abducted by aliens or something.”
    No, just my ex-husband. “He seems to mean it,”
    Susannah said meekly, worried now that Ryan had taken her for a ride. It wouldn’t be the first time.
    “Listen to me, Susannah. Are you listening?”
    “Yes,” Susannah said in a small voice.
    “That man is poison. Your life was all about him. You were like an accessory, not a wife. I can’t watch you be sucked back into that. You’ve worked so hard to break free of
     him. How can you forget about that after just a few days with him? And what about Henry?”
    “I know, I know,” Susannah said.
    “That poor man has waited his entire adult life for you to come to your senses and get over this obsession you have with Ryan.”
    “It’s not an obsession, Missy. I love him. I’ll always love him.”
    “And he’ll always hurt you because he doesn’t know how to love anyone but Ryan Sanderson.”
    “That’s not true,” Susannah protested. “He loves me.
    He does.”
    Melissa was silent, which was never a good thing.
    “Say something.”
    “You’re going back to him, aren’t you?”
    “No! I never said that.”
    “But you’re thinking about it.”
    “I didn’t say that, either.”
    “It’s because of what he did for Daddy, isn’t it? That’s why you won’t tell him to go screw himself the way any rational person
     would. You feel obligated to him.”
    “No, I don’t. There were no strings attached to what he did.”
    Missy snorted. “That’s what you think.”
    “He kept Daddy from going to jail and our parents from ending up homeless,” Susannah reminded her sister. “You should feel
     obligated to him, too.”
    “It’s very heroic to throw money at a situation, especially when you have tons of it to throw.”
    “He didn’t have to do it,” Susannah said. “He did it because he loves me and cares about my family.” She wondered for a moment
     why she felt so compelled to defend Ryan to her sister. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
    “He’s got your head all twisted around again,” Missy said with a sigh. “I can’t bear it.”
    “You’re leaping to all kinds of conclusions just because I’m spending a couple of days with him.”
    “I’m not the only one who’s jumping to conclusions, Susannah. Have you spoken to your fiancé
    today? Remember him? He’s reached a few conclusions of his own.”
    Susannah’s stomach twisted into knots as she thought about Henry.
    “Well, I’ve got to go,” Missy said. “George and I are planning to come out with Daddy and Mama for the wedding—if there is a wedding.”
    “There will be,” Susannah insisted.
    “If that’s what you want, then take a piece of advice from your big sister—end whatever